The Educated African Man

By Godfrey Mandizvidza

This discussion narrates the development of various educational systems with a focus on colonial education in Africa. Based on the arguments made in this publication, it is evident that the Educated African Man worships the colonizers. This is supported by the prevalent perspective that the colonizer’s lifestyle is more superior to his own. Did you know that the educational system introduced to us by the colonial masters was solemnly meant to produce a workforce that would work in the ever-expanding factories and industries of the colonial masters? We will argue that one would go to school for decades and get educated to the highest level. Without the factories or industries to work, this highly educated individual cannot contribute meaningfully to the development of his society.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Godfrey Mandizvidza
• Release date: Jan 3, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005678302

Book preview

THE EDUCATED AFRICAN MAN

Acknowledgment

I want to thank, first and foremost, my beautiful wife, Chona, for her unreserved love and support. My children Michelle, Tsitsi, and Gabriel Jonathan. I thank you and love you all very much! I wouldn’t be whom I am today without your love and support. I would also like to thank and acknowledge the help and support I got from Brian Ronoh, who helped me with the research that went into this book. I also would like to thank Collins Obuo, who helped me put this book together, and fi- nally, not forgetting my entire extended family for their love and support and for being there for me. I LOVE YOU ALL VERY MUCH! Godfrey

The Author’s Page

My name is Godfrey Mandizvidza. I was born in Zimbabwe but raised in Zambia, where I went to school. After school, I got a scholarship to study in Germany. I graduated with a diploma in Architectural Technician. In 1983 I returned to Zimbabwe and worked until 2000 when I, together with my family, moved to the United Kingdom.

This is the second book that I have written so far; the first was my autobiography published in 2020.

I am currently the U.K. Country Representative for Global tfan African Network (GtfAN), an NGO. It is an international civil rights movement whose aim is to unite all people of African descent both in the diaspora and in the motherland to advocate for their rights and freedoms throughout the world.

Those who would like to know more about me can look for my first publication, my autobiography "Crossing the lines by Godfrey Mandizvidza"

The Educated African Man

Introduction

This book has been put together by Godfrey Mandizvidza, with the help of my dear scholar friends Bryan Ronoh and Collins Obuo, to put forward the argument: why most of the Educated African Men have failed to contribute meaning- fully to the development of their native countries.

Did you know that the educational system introduced to us by the colonial masters was solemnly meant to produce a workforce that would work in the ever-expanding factories and industries of the colonial masters? We will argue that one would go to school for decades and get educated to the highest level. Without the factories or industries to work, this highly educated individual cannot contribute meaningfully to the de- velopment of his society. He can speak the language and write eloquently, but he cannot produce anything tangible that could help his society and community at large. He is useless, which means his education or a college degree is not valuable for him or his community. He becomes useless in the absence of these factories and industries, and would at most find himself sell- ing airtime for survival and blame it on the government for not giving him a job. Some will ultimately migrate to the West, providing cheap labor and boosting their economies instead of their own. We will give you an example of someone who has spent seven years studying to become a doctor but can- not produce a single pill. All he has been taught these years is reading and writing prescriptions without understanding how these pills are made. He has been made to memorize the various medicines that can cure specific symptoms. If you asked the

THE EDUCATED AFRICAN MAN 

components of any of these pills, he would not answer. This is just an example of how our minds have been corrupted. The same argument goes for graduate engineers. We produce one of the highest numbers of engineers who cannot construct a sin- gle bridge from scratch. Yes, the education system that has been with us has only managed to enslave us further. What we have now is emotional slavery. When the slave trade started back in the 16th century, it was physical slavery, but after decades of this educational system, we became emotional and economic slaves. Just look at how many of our brothers and sisters per- ished in the oceans in the pursuant of getting to Europe, Amer- ica, and so on, all for the sole reason of a better life.

Education is a powerful instrument of development and modernization. The view that education is the key to unlocking the doors of development and modernization is perhaps held more fervently in contemporary times. Africa, like other parts of the world, strongly believes in the axiom of education per excellence. African nations share the vision of education as a pivot for social change and integrated development. They be- lieve that an increase in the number of educated personnel in the continent is ipso facto an increase in her level of human de- velopment. But alas, the opposite is true after all these years of miseducation!

Therefore, it is essential to know that unless there is clarity regarding the genuine conception of education on the conti- nent and the nature of educated personnel that would evolve from such conception, no practical use can be made of educa- tion in development efforts. Constructively, the issue becomes more pertinent when one realizes that in some academic par- lance, the opinion is held that education is nothing but litera-

THE EDUCATED AFRICAN   MAN

cy and that only those who have the opportunity to experience Western education can be regarded as 'the educated.'

Many scholars are per the above view; since, in their per- ception, the notion of an educated person is a culturally neutral one, devoid of any relativistic coloration. Being wary of this po- sition, Anyanwu (1983) warned that scholars have been mak- ing a profound mistake by supposing that the identity of words in different cultural philosophies implies an identity of mean- ing. In specific terms, Anyanwu says that while the concept of education and the educated person is common in all cul- tures, they nevertheless have different connotations. Under- stood in this sense, stakeholders in African educational systems are busy borrowing Western conceptual models of education and the educated person as